Wonderful Wonderful Romance: Of Assassins and Mercenaries
by chaos-dark-lord
Summary: Gray wakes up only knowing that he is an assassin and he has a mission to retrieve, not to kill. But where the hell is he? Everything is strange. He is somehow in the middle of a war and he doesn't even know how he got there! Could it be the foreigner world? His target is not what he expects, or is she?
1. A new mission

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**Follow–up romance route for the series "Wonderful Wonderful Science". So it's recommended to read that.**

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**CHAPTER 1:** **A NEW MISSION**

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Gray Ringmarc woke up to an abrasive smell of smoke that burned his nostrils and made his eyes itch. He was lying on the floor among ashes and debris, unable to identify where he was. His mind was a blur. But at least he knew who he was and what he needed to do. He was an assassin, and he was here on a mission, and for the moment, that was all he needed to know.

His mind was in disarray and the terrible smell of burned trash and stuff didn't help his headache. He groaned. He was inside some sort of concrete store with a big window pane at the front. Outside of it he could barely see anything due to the dust and smoke, yet, it was somehow strange, as if he'd never seen this place. Whatever chaotic hell he was at the moment, he wasn't familiar with this place.

He was barely advancing towards the entrance when a nearby explosion made him jump for cover behind another wall, barely in time to evade the window's shards caused by the body that had been thrown towards said window by the shock wave.

The person didn't get up immediately and instead rolled to get behind a pillar and take cover from whatever debris came from the next explosions that hit the area.

From his cover, Gray saw the appearance of the person. It was most likely a male but it was impossible to tell under the heavy duty cloaked jacket that covered a gas-masked face. Underneath, the chest of the person was covered by a tactic vest that looked as full of gear as the cargo pants looked really packed too. It was plain to see that this person was some kind of combatant, maybe a mercenary.

The person raised his arm and moved the jacket to show a black paned thing that lit with its own light and flashy symbols, then he pressed some things as if there were buttons and covered again the arm. Half a minute later the explosions stopped and the person went out, apparently with a clear destination in mind and total confidence about the environmental hazards.

Gray didn't know where he was or where to go, so he decided to follow this person. All he knew was that he had been hired to aid, protect and retrieve some girl that was supposed to have multilayered blond hair and a long braid at the base of her nape; he also knew that he would immediately know who she was as soon as he detected her, and that she would not tell him her name. Even for his standards, this mission seemed very fucked up.

Once in the streets he saw just how unfamiliar everything was to what he was used to. It seemed like another world altogether. Dust and smoke felt harsh on his nostrils, mouth and eyes; they filled the air and were so dense that he couldn't see the sky, but it was plain that buildings were high and there was lots of glass, vehicles looked sleek and strange, and there were no signs of anything he recognized. Things were just off. He wanted to get out of there fast and his best bet was to follow the person that apparently was heading away from the danger.

Gray stayed out of seeing range all the time, but this person has picked his interest a bit by using weird tactics and devises of the likes Gray had never seen, which didn't explain why he felt he knew this person. There was something just disturbingly familiar about him; so far, the person had been very capable at evading or getting away from trouble or danger as if he just knew where danger was; especially, the person had excelled at avoiding the strange and futuristic machines that were all around the place. However, the person wasn't that good in direct combat when caught between the few soldiers that he had not managed to avoid.

After a little while, the person reached the outskirts of the small city and headed to a lonely half constructed building. After the person went inside, Gray made his way by climbing to the upper floor and going down to see that there was a mature man wearing a fine suit and a hat waiting for the mercenary. The old man didn't let Gray see any details from his mid torso upwards due to the angle of Gray's vision; apparently, the man had been waiting for this person to arrive.

_"Here it is"_ – The person said in a digitally distorted voice that surprised Gray, and took a small box from the pocket of his cargo pants showing it to the man.

_"Amazing Vector! Or is it already a different code name?"_ – The man took out a briefcase and put it on the table, opening it and letting the contents drop on the surface. It was money. Lots of money. –"_Just like last time, plus a little bonus. This time was harder. The other teams or solos are dead and you're good."_

_"At this mission I went by "Fractal", but the code name doesn't matter._ – The person went to check the money-_ It's always a pleasure to make business with you Mr. Client._" - He leaved the little box on the table to complete the exchange.

"_So Miss mercenary... the next mission will be very hard and I will require that you team up with someone…"_ – The client said and Gray didn't miss that he had referred to the persona as a "She". –"_I'll see you in the point B at Callesso in 2 days. I'll have hired someone capable by then. If you don't like the partner you can refuse or go alone, but then you'd be competing against my hireling._" – The man explained, obviously used to this kind of stuff.

"_And what makes you think I'll accept?_" – She seemed dubious. It was obvious that she preferred to work alone.

_"The money of course, and trust me, It's well worth it_." The man said and tipped his hat before leaving.

Once the man was out the female removed the cloak and a long sinuous braid extended from her nape and fell to her back all the way past her butt. She moved bellow the light to gather the money and Gray could see that her hair had different shades of blond here and there.

When she took off the gas mask and Gray saw her, his clock skipped a few ticks before seeming to go out of pace. She had eyes, olive green eyes and Gray knew, without a doubt that this girl was his target.

He didn't know where he was, but something told him that he somehow knew her. He just couldn't remember. And he knew, that she was the clue to getting back to... to wherever he had come from.

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**Sadly I have limited time to write, so updates will be determined by which story is reviewed. **


	2. A new partner

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CHAPTER 2: **A NEW PARTNER**

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Gray didn't know how, everything had been a blur. He had tried following her but he had been unable to. It was as if she was always ahead of him but he just couldn't reach her. And suddenly when he had been about to finally catch up with her, the world shifted and he was standing in some sort of tent with her standing at her side. He was being hired by the same old man that he had seen making a deal with her to be her partner for the next mission.

How had he appeared here, anyways?

The old man turned to look at him. The man had sunglasses and the wing of his hat created a shadow that hid any faction.- "_So you will be in charge of protecting her when she needs it and protect the data you both are to retrieve and transmit."_ – The old man said addressing him. Gray wondered if he was from the hatters but it didn't seem like it.

"_I haven't accepted yet."-_ The woman said with a heavy digitized and distorted voice. If he hadn't seen her without the hood and mask, he would have been unable to determine her gender.

The man nodded to her.- _"Of course. It won't be as simple this time. You are to intercept a small convoy that is transporting various things; What you are to retrieve is a case with a HD containing very important data. So important that they are not risking to transmit it and instead they are transporting it physically."-_ The man explained calmly- _"However the retrieval must be as confusing as possible to provide no clue as who the one retrieving it is. Then you need to transmit it and return it to the case where you find it. That is why you must get it while on general combat at point B in the city. Other teams will provide the distraction. The aerial raid and rest of the forces are already on their way to provide the cover up. It will seem to be as the convoy accidentally stumbled into a random fight between the militarist and the revolutionaries."_

"_Seems hard. If that thing is so important why sent only us?"-_ Gray was suspicious.

The man shrugged his shoulders- "_Two reasons mainly. The first one is that one small team is easier to pass unperceived. And the second reason is because the only tech expert of a high enough expertise to hack, decrypt and transmit that data, available in the region is Vector here."- _He said and pointed to the armored girl.- _"Don't worry. I assure you that Vector here is very capable, however Vector is not a frontal fighter, and that is were you come in." _

"_This is going to cost you more_"- She said.

"_I know. My company has prepared double the amount plus a small bonus."- _The man said without hesitation.

"_I wanna know exactly what we are getting into"-_ Gray was baffled. How had he gotten into this mess in the first place? This was not the kind of mission he was used to. This was not a silent, quiet and fast assassination. He had never seen this kind of action or mission. Aerial raid? Data retrieval? What was he gotten himself into? And why was the man calling her "Vector", her name started with "A", right?

"_If you aren't sure about being able to do this then back down now. I don't want anyone incapable of taking care of my back when I'm there under the fire._ "- She snapped dryly. -" _The client is paying well enough for the risks and for our discretion. Take it or leave it. "_

"_That's what one the things we like about you Vector. But I assure you that he is very good at what he does, he will take care of combat easily. You just need to concentrate in that data."_

She turned to look at him though the gas mask and the world flickered once again before he could say or do anything.

"_What the heck!?"-_ Gray was confused and dazed. Just a second ago he was in some room discussion a mission's details and the next he was against a wall covering from an explosion in the middle or a bombing with noises of shots everywhere!

"_Don't just stay there! We need to reach the convoy_!"- She was by his side against the wall pressing madly her fingers over a black thing with blinking moving images over her forearm. – "_Ok, now! Cover my back!"_

She jumped out of cover and ran amidst the smoke. Gray followed her in the middle of the chaos. The place was a burning hell. There were heavy vehicles of kinds he had never seen, the buildings seem to be made mostly of glass and concrete. It was like the place he had woken up to, but in the middle of a real war. His nostrils burned and his eyes stung. It was like breathing poison. He could barely hear anything. Explosions happened everywhere and small groups of people were scattered all around, shooting at other groups that they couldn't see due to the thick black smoke.

He ran after her, keeping close and shooting or throwing knives at whomever noticed them in the ruckus. And suddenly there was something very wrong. It shocked him to the core to see that people had eyes and that when they fell to the floor they didn't dissolve into darkness.

His eyes widened in utter shock- "_I..Impossible."_

It was not possible. This place… this mad hell of a fight couldn't be the foreigner world, could it!?

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**Yeah, it was short but I bet few anticipated this. It's also completely intentional that this is confusing as hell, so don't worry, Gray is as confused as you.  
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	3. An old story

**NoD got it right. More or less ;)**

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**THIS CHAPTER WAS UPDATED**

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CHAPTER 3: **AN OLD STORY**

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Gray was more than confused. This blazing hell couldn't be the foreigner world! The foreigner world was supposed to be a peaceful place that valued life. It... It just couldn't be!

He was lost in thought looking around in a daze.

It wasn't simply possible. It was against the rules to go to the foreigner world and only the through the dreamworld could the caterpillar open a path! But then what was he seeing? How had he ended up here?

_"Stop dazing and cover me!"_

Crouching in front of him, the girl was madly pressing buttons in some device in her arm above a steel suitcase. He barely saw when someone raised from a hill of debris to aim at the concentrated female. His memory suddenly pulled him to a moment in a sort of terrace at the top of the Clover tower where she was sharing a big cigar with him. That was the last cigar she had from her world.

The man aiming at her feel to the ground with a well-placed bullet from Gray just in time for the girl to take out something from the steel suitcase. She hadn't seem to notice how close to death she had been, but for Gray it had been way too close. It was like a cube of cold icy water just how vulnerable she indeed was and how much she depended on his skills to protect her while she used hers to complete the mission.

She took a cable and connected the piece inside the suitcase to the device of her arm. Gray didn't waste time. He took down another guy that had been reaching for them and while he did so, his memory now showed him with her on top of him with a blade ready at his neck. He had chased her in clover and she had turned the tables and had managed to get the upper hand with a sudden attack. She had retreated her blade, but the fact that she had won remained.

"Let´s go!"- She finished doing whatever she had been doing and she stood up. Gray came back from memory land and tackled her to the ground just in time to evade a barrage of bullets. Now his mind showed him a memory when he was in the kitchen and she was slapping his hand with a big wooden spoon and screaming hysterically at how Bacon didn't go with yogurt in the soup.

Yes, he had met her in Wonderland. She had something to do with him. But this was not Wonderland and she was younger that the vague images he remembered, yet she was still the same and for soem reason he was very worried about her safety. It was for the mission, but that felt alien... his own worried about her was different... This place... What he was seeing. He was not in the present. This were memories... But this memories weren't his, did they?

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The world span again to answer his question and expand his doubts.

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The building shook from the hits of artillery shells casted over the city and dust fell over them from the ceiling. He felt that he was breathing fast, his sweat ran down his temple and the smell of battle hung around him. He was resting his muddy and bloodstained back against that of the younger girl who couldn't even be twenty. Both were really tired but she kept typing furiously over her small laptop.

The image and sensations were clear but they felt like a glove over his skin. More as if he was merely wearing them. This memories weren't his. He was seeing all from the eyes of someone else.

Gray felt his lips move but he hadn't any control of them or of the words that he felt spoken. –"_You got data, gurl?"-_ The voice that came out was deeper than his and had a thick and raspy accent to it. It resounded through a broader chest and held and held some doubt but good will altogether.

"Almost there, I just need a few minutes to download the files and then I can send the decoy coordinates."- She answered without stopping what she was doing.

_"Good. Maybe we ask for more money?"_ –He said and felt his body turn around to look at her screen. Gray couldn't comprehend all the fast moving green symbols, letters and numbers. But he remembered her doing something like that with him present at some point... something about managing processes... he remembered that he had been impressed somehow. _–" Huh? You not only finishing mission. You have personal agenda."- _Yes... he knew she always had various plans going on at the same time... Who was this woman? What was his relation to her?

"And you don´t?"- His head was over her shoulder and he could smell the salty essence of her sweat mixed with blood and smoke.

"Da, I do."-Whoever was this man Gray noticed he was impressed and curious of this girl. -"Why you fight here? You too skilled in stuff you do but not in combat. You better not in battlefield"- Gray heard that deep voice laugh. This wasn't his body. He was just seeing through it. – "And you very good at causing chaos and collateral damage ha,ha" ;D

"That´s why you are here, to cover me up. I deal with the tech, you deal with the combat."

Gray was beginning to understand. It wasn't that hard to figure out. This had been the man that had been hired to be the muscle and experience of the mission while she was the brain and the knowledge. He hadn't been there. He was just seeing what had happened... but how could he see something from the foreigner world? At least he felt more at ease knowing more of what was happening.

"I saw you fight. You good at getting away and disarming but no good at real attack, da? You no change of living long if you don´t." – The man said with a tint of worry or consideration and Gray agreed with that, but he was more worried about what was really happening.

(sight) "I know…" - She typed a bit more before turning off her equipment.

The ceiling shook once more and it became obvious that they weren't going anywhere for a while.

_"So… why you here? How you a mercenary?_ "– Gray could feel the smile of this person. It felt nice, friendly and warm. Whoever this man was, he had genuilly wanted to know about her.

"We´re getting personal? Sorry, but I you´d have to tell your story for me to even consider telling you mine."

That sounded familiar. She had told him something like that at some point in clover, but he couldn't remember clearly.

"Da, it´s fair. My older brother was training for spetsnaz, but army too serious and strict for me, da? I quit and became mercenary at Eastern Europe. When countries block hostilities began, I got many jobs. I got with company to smuggle cargo, ship got to stop on this country but it was discovered and government embargoed it, ownership of cargo under discussions, but owner will send force to rescue ship and cargo in few months, meanwhile I make some money with rebels. Fun to see big capitalist pigs angry. Now your turn-" The man smiled with ease and motioned to her. Gray didn't knew what to think.

She blinked with surprise and distrust. This felt familiar again for Gray. She... she was a foreigner, and he had met her in Clover... he was beginning to remember and he felt that something like this had happened to him with her not telling him her past. Had he been in his body, his clock would probably be ticking faster.

"I told, now you have to. Your terms your word, your turn, da?" – The man smiled amused at her expression. She looked cute.

"I have nothing much else to do than mercenary jobs, not always raw fights, I'm more of a "white neck mercenary", and as long as I can hit an interest or two…"

"Life stolen from you, da latina gurl?"- Gray didn't knew what latina was, but he understood what the man had discovered. - "World is not a fine place, it's terrible and horrible but still worth to fight for."

"How you knew I was from..?"

_"Your accent and language slips more than mine when exited, gurl." **XD** - _The man interrupted her and if Gray could smile on his own he would, but this was not his body or his memories. Yes, he knew that he had heard her only a couple occasions when she got exited... she had spoken in some foreign language with a quite melodic accent. He had though that such antic was cute.

Outside had started raining. She took out a box of cigarettes and offered him one and that felt familiar and warm again. He had shared a smoke or two with her, of that he was sure.

" You know? I´m fucking tired of the pollution and environmental destruction, of political and economic interests from transnational companies and foreign governments, of political agendas, of acid rain, of floating islands of trash and waste in the oceans, of instigated guerrillas, of the destruction of art and historical heritages, of the hypocrisy of the rich and the dumbness of the poor, of the willing ignorance of the masses and the general idiocy, nothing more than ****** consumist cattle. How stupid can humans be! How primitively irrational they are!"- She seemed filled with so much rage that hell would be envious of its fire.-"I want to annihilate up a company or two and some governments too before I get killed."

"Da… You and more than one… me too. I wanna live and enjoy while I alive." – Who was this man? And why was he able to see this? Of one thing Gray was sure. This had happened to her in the past, before she met him, probably before she arrived to Wonderland.- "I have proposal gurl. You good at tech, I need to reach ship in couple months. We stick together for work until then. You get me in ship unnoticed and I train you on attack meanwhile. We work together, you deal with tech, I deal with combat, we make money. What you think?"

She closed her eyes and inhaled her cigarette as she considered his proposal. When she finished her cigarette and looked at him, she sealed the deal by shaking his hand.- "Da, I accept." -She smiled.

This man... whoever he was he had been her partner and Gray noticed that the deal had been like the mission he had been assigned. He needed to take get her back and protect her... but from what? Who had hired him then? And where was he in truth? ...Who was she anyways and why did she seemed important to him?

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Gray hadn't even finished thinking all his question when the world shifted around him once more.

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He was once again with her, they were covering behind an old broken bus in the rundown remains of a city. They were trying to circle a band of combatants that were resting on the upper floor of the remains of a nearby building and that had use vehicles to form a caravan perimeter.

The combatants were on the lookout, but for just two people getting close had been easy, they had gone from outpost to outpost eliminating each one of the sentinels while heading unnoticed towards the main camp with the light rain as cover aid.

_"Why did we accepted this job again?_ "- The female said while looking through her digital binoculars.

"_You need experience Pochemuchachka..."_ He heard the man whose memories he was riding speak with frustrated. There didn't seem to be a way to get any more closer.

_"Pochemuchachka..."_? _What does that means?"_ - His female partner asked.

_"It means "person who asks a lot of questions"_ - He took a sip of his canteen. Gray felt the water pass though his throat with a funny flavor and he knew that it wasn't just water. This mission did seem far more than dangerous. Even he would have though well before accepting it. There were too many enemies and too well armed. He didn't know half of the weapons he saw, but he knew that they were probably more deadly than those in arsenals in Wondeland. Yet, he knew that this girl had a bunch of tricks of her own, even though he couldn't remember exactly what and that made him feel some sort of weird confident pride.

"_Can´t help it, it´s in my nature. How else am I going to learn?"_ -She said and took a sip of her´s.-_ "They have high caliber weaponry, it´s well situated and their personnel are well positioned too. If we use explosives we risk destroying those drives."_

"_That´s exactly why we took job._ _You know theory. Now you get practice and we get good money"_.- He side-smiled looking though his own binoculars but Gray felt that such wasn't all_._Gray had never seen binocular lenses like this. The range and definition were astonishing and little lights and images appeared to show information or even got the image focused closer. To him this were almost magical and he remembered that she had used some items back in Wonderland in almost magical ways, making her feel like a magical creature herself.- _"Da. We can´t win in direct fight. What do you suggest?"_

"_We don´t need to defeat them to achieve our goal, do we? Remember what I was cooking" the other day."_

_"Da? Your cooking almost killed me".- _The guy smiled ravishingly. Gray knew they weren't talking about food. – "_You are a chef from hell, gurl."_

The female opened an anti impact case and from it she took some glass pieces with extreme care. She passed them to her companion and he threw them like baseballs in the exit points of the combatants caravan and then in the center of it. It took seconds for the humans bellow to start dying under the effects of the deadly chemical mixture that generated some deadly vapor with the water from the rain while the pair watched from above.

"_Those who managed to get away are already exposed and will either die soon or live with very bad side effects for a while before dying too. We just need to wait for the rain to pass and the gas to disperse"_ – She said.

The deaths were horrible and Gray felt the saliva stuck in the back of his throat. Though the eyes of whomever this man was he saw that she was unaffected by the horrid show below, at much she looked curious at the effects of her brew upon being tested on living subjects. She had no compassion, no sympathy and no empathy whatsoever, yet she was not a mental psycho who got on a roll from others pain and suffering.

"_It´s horrible, da?_ "- His voice quivered – "_Let´s never use horrible stuff unless our lives depend on it,... da?" _– The man said almost pleadingly to his partner.

Some of the bodies stopped their horrid dead wailing and remained unmoving. Though the binocular Gray saw the expressions of pain and torment in their faces. Gray could somehow agreed with the guy whose memories he was seeing. It had been short and brutally effective. Gray had seen something like that once... Yes. It had been the outcome of one occasion where she... why couldn't he remember her name?.. was cornered and kidnapped after an event in the castle of Hearts. He had attended that event and... he had run to catch up with the kidnappers but he had been too late. She had come back by herself riding a horse and practically falling from it when she intercepted him and the knight half the way back. She had gotten past them and gotten back to the castle by herself to get medical attention. He had failed then. He and all the players of the game. If he was in his own body he would have surely clenched his first and gritted his teeth. She had been forced to use all her means to defend herself and the remaining corpses showed what she was capable of doing.

But she... She was not completely defenseless foreigner. She was vulnerable but she wasn't weak. She never asked for anyone's help, and probably she never trusted anyone completely either... Why did he felt that? She was different, and now he knew for certain that never before had he understand so well just how little he truly knew about her. He couldn´t understand her and he knew she wouldn´t bother to understand anyone either way, but he knew that there was a lot more behind the girl and he was curious about it. He knew she was even more dangerous than what she considered herself to be, her knowledge had amazed him, but it was her determination and lack of restrain that gave her edge, she knew no boundaries, and that was amazing.

Things were crazy once again and Gray braced himself for another memory trip. Now he wanted to know who had been this man and what had he been to her, but more than anything he was getting desperate to do things himself.

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In this new memory, they infiltrated a facility that was not on any map, either civilian or military, while other teams attacked the other sectors. The place was some sort of research center. She mentioned that the technology they had encountered had required a humongous investment, the kind that could only be provided by a huge mega-company or a big economic block. Gray couldn't comprehend the technology or structure of the place; even the girls partner couldn't grasp it completely either, unlike her , who was like fish in water.

When they saw what was being breaded in there, the man had vomited and the girl had gotten excited about the scientific research advancements (to her partner's horror), she had happily proceeded to hack all the information in the systems and store it in one her multiple drivers installed in her suit and gadgets, with a couple of petabytes and zettabytes of capacity distributed in all her stuff she had plenty of free space. Once she was finished hacking, transmitting or stealing whatever she found useful they had proceed to set up the auto detonation systems; however they had to get sure of destroying the weapons, whether their targets were mere living petri dishes or engineered living bio-weapons. So they had entered the incubation ward and had done what needed to be done. Then they had escaped and hadn´t stop till they reached a safe base town away from the mission site.

Once in a safe zone, she was reviewing all her newly acquired data and his partner was sitting by the window frame and Gray felt the lost and hopeless look he probably had on his face.

"_We are Shell-Shocked Veterans, war never will end for us, da?"_ -He said sadly. The cigarette in his hand shook before he took another pull at it and threw it aside – "_We've seen and done things that no amount of therapy could ever heal, da? We are irrevocably scarred..."_

Gray had heard something like that from her too at some point but filled with cynism instead. It was the breaking point, when life held no meaning and contained nothing but self-distaste. It was something he knew too, he had heard it and he probably passed through it at some point when he was an assassin... wait! WAS!? Wasn't he one anymore!?

"_I agree, but I think you are over reacting. After all, we successfully finished the mission. They told us to destroy the weapons being created in sector C of that facility".-_She said without a hint of being disturbed at the massacre they had done earlier_- "They simply forgot to tell us that the weapons weren't viral or chemical and we never considered that we would face B.O.W.s . If we hadn´t killed the Bio-Organical-Weapons now that they were on their infant state, we might have had to face them later once they reach adult stages." _

_"Off all things we done…"- _He looked at the girl, she was not affected, not at all, or at least he couldn't see it. He knew she didn't care, that somehow she couldn't care. Gray knew that on the other hand the man was breaking. He didn't know what a Bio-Organical-Weapon was, but what they had killed had been mere infants, and the man was taking it hard. He would take it hard too. He had tried to kill a child at some point... respectively... but in the end he hadn't been able to... That was when he quitted being an assassin! Or at least a point in his life when he had gotten another job. What was it? _–"You truly don´t really care about anything anymore, da?" _

"_Caring is not an advantage." – _She finally looked at him and noticed his distress- "_Snap out of it! we have been on this for a few months and were close to your port. You have been the one choosing most of the jobs and we have ended up victorious in all of them so far."_

_"Da. With varying degrees of success and_ _sanity." - _He was at the brick of collapsing, his hands at the back of his head and in desperation. Gray was affected too. He couldn't believe this was real, that things like that happened in the foreigner world, that she had lived though that , that she didn't cared at all. Had she been like this in Wonderland?... No. She was worse, even farther on the edge. He hadn't been assassin for a while then, but she had reminded him oh so much of himself, that had called to him. Weather because she could lure him back to that lifestyle or because he wanted to get her out of it... even if it was to prove that it was truly possible to leave such past behind.

"_I don't understand why you are so upset... "-_She was by his side, her presence looming over him. The man's hand was reaching for the gun at his belt... Gray knew he was thinking of shooting himself.

" _I. SAID. SNAP. OUT. OF. IT!"- _She took a hold of his coat and forced him to see her, even though he was bigger and physically stronger he complied with her demand and saw her confused scowl over him… and without notice she kissed him, and Gray only felt how the man returned the kiss avidly.

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The kiss was sweet and rabidly passionate. The man was taking in her breath like an elixir of life, trying to drink into her steadiness and get some for his needed self; to hold onto it with every touch of their lips with devoir and despair. She didn't hold back. With the same total disposition she had for her missions and actions, she kissed him with complete proneness and selfless inclinations.

Gray felt her sweet lips but the kiss tasted sour to him. She was kissing this man and he was only a voyeuristic intruder. But it was more than that and he surrendered to her ardor though this man's memories. If this was just a mere taste of what the game promised then… It was strangely fulfilling and yet it made him hunger for far more. He remembered she had said on multiple occasions that she was unable to love or form permanent connections. But if that was true what the hell was this chocolate and spices kiss just now!?

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Another memory and she was walking with him after buying coffee. She had stopped to pick up a small stray kitten. She had adopted that kitten later and had called him B... Bu.. 'Bunsen'... yes, she had called that the kitten. And she had shown more emotion to that little cute ball of fluff than to anything or anyone else.

He remembered her. He did. Even if her name still escaped him and everything was foggy, but he saw her working at clover with ruthless cold efficiency, acting impassive and keeping her cool. Just slightly different than the girl from the memories, but decidedly more aloof and serene.

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Once more he felt the shift of things.

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"_Didn´t think you cared, gurl. I tough you were unfeeling machine" – _He hugged her from behind while she was sitting in the floor cross-legged typing away.

"_When did I say I did?" –_She kept typing, yet she did nothing to get him off_ – "We already received the rest of the payment and a request for another mission. We should head out in a couple hours."_

"_Da."-_ The man confirmed as he rested his head over her shoulder. Gray could feel that he was worried_ -" How you do that synch thing with tech? It´s scary, da? Every time you do that you end acting like drone."_

Gray was ignorant as to what a "drone" was, but he knew what the man was talking about. She could do something weird to control her devices and some technologies if she was close enough; and when she did that she acted very… mechanical. It was kinda creepy even for someone like him. For someone with a beating hard to be so unnaturally mechanical. It was as if she was a machine herself at those moments. And when she ended it always took her a few seconds, sometimes a couple minutes, to go back to herself.

"_..mmhh... how to explain...Ok. I expand my being and my will on nearby devices. Like extending my consciousness to digital devices and whatever analog gadgets they control, they become part of me or rather I become all of it. Of course it also means that my own body is no more than just another device and I have to concentrate on keep it functioning. On the main synch I can control big networks and in secondary mode, it gets limited to just whatever´s in an arm's length"- _She explained it to him as easy as she could. –""_. It´s because it takes me a little while to manage to not sense myself as another component in the system"_

"_So risk is you end up more like machine every time you do that!?" – _The man went stiff at the realization and Gray shared the horror

_"Da. Although the A.I. of my suit takes cares of many background processes." – _She didn't explain more.

_"You ever tried sending electric impulses to persons? To synch with someone?- _Gray didn't understand where the question was going but he felt the man's uneasiness that hid an unshakable resolution, and for the first time he was aware that this man's heart was beating. It was incredibly weird and indescribable powerful, and it seemed to pound inside his chest, it beat for her and she had just caused it to beat harder in fear of what her words implied.

"_You ever tried sending electric impulses to persons? To synch with someone?- _Gray didn't understand where the question was going.

"_No. It does not work that way. I sent impulses to machines, human minds are very different, that's why it always failed with everyone else that tried using this suit. However personality and thinking process are signals between the neurons... maybe I can scan it or map part of it, perhaps record some of that but nothing else and I wouldn´t comprehend it anyways. Like some noise in a radio transmission." – _She studies the possibilities like a theory from a book, impersonal and rational.

_"Try with me, da? I want you to have a record of what human mind is, in case you lose yours."- _Gray felt that it was deeper than that. The mercenary not only wanted to help her, he wanted far more than that with and for her. She was still outerly cold and professionally serious and he was unsure of what this strange arrangement of a relationship meant for her. He knew, or rather, feared, that they would go their own ways as they had originally agreed; but he somehow wanted to be with her or to help her even if he wasn't there. It was obvious that this man had come to love her.

She looked weirdly at him but nodded- "_Ok, I have more than enough space for that in the data banks of my suit. It shouldn't be too hard if I get the A.I. to_ _scan, record and integrate the data progressively. _

The man stood up and went to get a beer from some box bag. He came back and saw her looking intently at her screens. She wasn't typing anymore, was just staring.- _"Something the matter?"_

"_This is weird." – _She said while looking at the graphs on her screen.

"_What?"- _He and Gray knew that oh so very little could perturb her.

"_I ran a general status check. My brain… I think my ability to synchronize actually killed me some time ago and whatever remains of a person I seem to be, are just the left over remains of imprinted impulses I ever generated by using all those devises…. Did you ever saw "The ghost in the shell" ? "_

Gray sensed a cold chill running along his back as the man blinked in confusion before tapping her on the forehead with his beer.

"_Nop, no ghost, you still here and alive. Im here too" – H_e then kissed her lightly on the cheek in an attempt to be reassuring.

She looked at him with even more confusion-_ "Why do you even want to bother? I really don´t love or hate or anything. Our deal still stands and in a little while we´ll part ways._

"_Maybe. But a man can hope and some things are just worth it. If you don´t love, least let yourself be loved and I´ll decide for myself if I try or not. Who knows? Maybe you´ll develop something like it too You said you have equivalents, da?"–_ She let him take her by the waist and positioned her in front of him – "_We´re mercenaries. We may die tomorrow so we must enjoy today the best."_

Gray felt the dread. Those could have been his own words or anyone's from the players of the game of hearts. She had warned them in the same way, but she hadn't shown any interest. She had jumped from territory to territory without any real interest on the game despise figuring what it was about. She had even kindly offered to remain in Wonderland until her vial filled instead of going back to her world immediately. Had he or anyone at least told her or truly showed that they cared? No… There was something more… something worse… something he hadn't remembered yet.

_._

He began feeling his own body away from this dream. He knew that this was more or less like a dream, but his mind wasn't on getting back to the cold soreness that awaited him once he wake up. No, he wanted to know. She and this man... what had happened? It was much, too much. That kind of relationship. How did Wonderland even wanted them to compete with something like that in the game?

He was starting to have his doubts and was starting to feel a bit of resentment because she hadn't even given the players a chance... or had she? Had anyone even truly tried? What had any of them truly offered her? What reason had anyone given her for staying in Wonderland? None.

No one found her immediately when she arrived into Wonderland. She was lost for many tie changes, and then they wasted all the beginning of her game still clinging to Alice when it was clear that Blood had won that game. A second foreigner was an extremely rare chance and they had just waste it. He had wasted it. It was his own fault for not taking all those little chances, for not understanding all those little moments when she opened up. He had no one to blame but himself, and he wished that he had another chance.

The dizziness came back and another memory immediately followed.

.

It could have been morning, mid-day or afternoon and it wouldn´t have mattered, the ashes filled up the sky demising the light to a grayish tone in all towns and cities in the area.

Gray saw the pair ambush what they called a 'field communications convoy' that had been better armed than what their contractors had expected. She had synchronized with their opponent's equipment and had turned it against them while her partner dealt with the left over organic components called escort soldiers.

They had of course looted all the convoy and soldiers had been carrying, but as she had synched she had gotten a hold of a bunch of encrypted instructions and orders regarding certain cargo at a certain ship that certain male mercenary had to get to really fast before the operation started far earlier of what he´d expected.

She didn´t told her partner, but Gray and the man suspected that their goodbye was drawing near, and despite only being here for the ride. Gray could felt the anxiousness. In the first memories he had only seen and heard, in the next ones he had been able to take smell and even taste, but what he felt from the next one and when the next memory struck him, it did so at full force.

.

Gray didn't have any time to prepare himself for what came, much less for the intensity of it.

.

He had her against the wall kissing her neck with desperation and trusting into her with a fast and strong pace as she moaned in ecstasy (screaming things like "_Mathematics!", "Biology!", "SCIENCE!";)_ her legs tangled around his waist with a strong grip and her arms around held onto his neck and broad shoulders for the needed support. Her eyes were closed, enjoying the moment at maximum.

She… SHE WAS FUCKING HIM! And she was very good at it! … He felt her raveled in him, he smelled her scent, tasted her sweat, heard her voice…! And he… and he… he was't the one doing her! That didn't felt good… urgghh… actually it did. This man was very good at it too. .. And he was bigger than him in that department…* **_***

The guy gazed at her bare breasts clashing against his naked torso, he tough she was beautiful and Gray agreed. Did he ever anyone ever told her?

Gray got all the full sensations of the moment and he would have his face utterly red if he was in his own body, but he was only a passenger in the ride and this was quite the ride and "Guild be dammed!" He had already enjoyed a kiss not meant for him and he would enjoy the full package. She had said that to her sex meant nothing just like anything else. But he could feel it. This was different. She was fricking sharing herself with this damn lucky oaf! This man was winning the game without even being part of it!

He would have liked to see her more without her suit (or anything else) and explore the circuitry designs engraved on her skin, to follow the trail of the lines with his fingers and tongue; the sound of her real un-distorted voice, with an accent of her own, turned him on and reminded him that this moment was set aside of time, a drop of eternity that would soon past and that will just leave him thirsty in the end, he knew that probably this was their last change for anything, so he´d have to make every precious second of it count for both of them. Gray shared into that sensation and feelings, they were vague to him but clear in the intent. Mixed with the overwhelming emotions of the mysterious man were his own impulses.

He remembered now been hired by Nightmare to jump into the dream realm and get out of there whatever was causing that. Nightmare had been unable to enter the dreamrealm. But he had been able to open the path by temporary opening the way and causing an equal disturbance. And he had been hired to do that because if it was a mission then it wasn't against the rules.

Never had he expected that the disturbance would be someone, much less did he ever expected that it was her. She was unbelievable, yet he and everyone had forgotten about her. A storm had passed and no one remembered her after that. Storms always brought changes and that was why many either loved them or loathed them. But that it would made them all forget so much... that wasn't normal. Something else must have happened. But what? And why did he felt it was even worse?

Another memory and Gray felt that it was almost the last one; and he remembered something else. The last he remembered of her was that... that they had send her in a suicidal mission to get to Alice! It had been a massive attack of a coalition of factions during the concert event at the amusement park. She had ended up fighting her way alone with everything against her. She wasn't wearing her armor. And she had gotten very angry. How wouldn't she!? They had betrayed all and every little hard earned piece of trust from her and had passed to be nothing more than despicable contractors. She... she had called game over then and had ended up somehow crossing the looking glass to Diamond.

He wanted to bang his firsts against a wall, but not being in his body impeded him from doing so. There was just one thing to remember now; the time when she was in Diamond was still missing from his mind.

If he kept looking and understanding he was sure to remember all. He needed to. Was she even still alive?

.

It was night and the two mercenaries were over the roofs of the port's hangars running. Running for their lives and running out of time. They had set up a decoy at the city to distract the personnel from the nearby military base from noticing the move from the ship's owner to get the vessel on the sea. However it had coincided that the military had pressed for their own attack and the ship was already getting ready to sail; leaving them running to the breaching point.

There was no time for subtlety, they had to open their way guns blazing and explosions ensuing and made it to the piers control room. She checked the controls and synched to take control of the net to open all the closed doors, security safes and sea doors; closing those that they had traversed already, and make all security systems report "no changes" to prevent more authorities to interfere. The ship´s crew was under alert that they had free range to leave as soon as certain mercenary with the oceanic floodgate hatche´s password boarded the ship. She also made herself a free road to get to the naval´s base and get what she wanted along a safe passage to get out of there, it would not last long before someone noticed, so she had to get on the move fast and keep herself synched with all the devises of the port.

They looked at each other as sirens ran loudly in the back, the diversion had been discovered and military reinforcements were probably on the way already.

"_Come with me gurl…_ "- He already knew the answer, but he still had to ask it, to plead it. It was even stupid of him to ask it, she needed to reach her other destination to open up the floodgate hatchets and let the ship reach open ocean while he ran to get on board before the ship was attacked. There was no time to waste.

She sighted and shook her head. No words were said for a few moments until he took a hold of her chin and pressed his forehead against hers.

"_Don´t die uselessly, make life and dead count._ _Uvidimsya, Pochemuchka … (Until we see each other again, person who asks many questions) "_

"_Proschay Andrick Proschay… soldier of fortune... (Good bye forever )"_

They separated and ran on different directions; none of them looked back past their shoulders. There was nothing more to say and despite not understanding what the words meant, Gray had no doubt what they conveyed. He... he had run too... and he had felt useless and being powerless against something in Diamond... and this memory hit a chord in him. He had never gotten to help her. He never reached her.

The memories carrousel wasn't over yet.

The last memory finally came and it was the strangest of all. He sensed things in an unnatural and mechanical way. All senses were separated yet working at the same time. And this time, it was not through the man's eyes.

She was over a big empty room that looked like some sort of industrial navy. A strangle blip sounded and she took out one of her gadgets. She turned it on and the small screen on it flashed alive. In the screen the face of a dark brown haired man appeared, his icy blue eyes looked tired and his expression softened and beamed when he saw her.

**_(Bermuda!?)- _**Gray couldn't believe it. She and that man!? She had banged that man!? How could Jericho Bermuda, the dodo from Wonderland, had been her lover!? Was it one of the other versions of the man? But then this had been in the foreigner's world…. He was too shocked to continue his thoughts. He didn't want to.

"Glad you answered, gurl." - Before she interrupted him, he continued – "_I have not much time. Ship actually belongs to subsidiary of the company we blew baby bioweapons. I found out what cargo in ship was. You guess what?"_ - He of course didn´t let her guess- "_Its worse than that lab, It is things in adult stages and they have millions of injecting shots and disperse bombs. Most of crew already infected"-_ Resolve was obvious in his face – "_I'll blow ship. I send the images and data to you. Please sink company in land."_

He wanted her to use the information against the conglomerates.

_"Do you have a way to escape?"_ – She asked straight away.

Gray noticed that he wasn't in a body but over one, hers. He perceived everything around her. And there was just so much he could also perceive about the environment or about her; her skin, any tiny movement, her temperature, her heartbeat…

Jericho's look alike shook his head sadly but his smiled remained in place.

"I´m in bridge. _Remaining emergency boats are on other side of ship and water´s too cold to swim. Even running its far and it be sneaky... Ship´ll blow in few minutes and I closed security doors. I´ll try to reach but..._ _Pochemuchka_...?"

"_Yes?"_

_"Sing for me with your real voice, da?" -_ He pleaded. And Gray knew that she was as aware as him that this man was going to die.

"_What!? Stop wasting time and get out of there idiot!" – She actually sounded worried and anxious._

_"You gonna deny this man´s last request? Please, sing for me and I´ll run, I´d like one of your old videogame songs". - _He grinned_ –"_ _The last fantasy one about melodies and life."_

_"YOU FUCKING RUSSKIE IMBECILE !"_ - She said but she still pressed the dial in her collar to turn off her voice distorter. He grinned even more and turned around setting up an explosive charge and placing whatever phone he was using in his jacket with the camera forward so that she could look and record at what was happening, then he started running.

Grey finally detected it. He was somehow inside her armor. It would have been the strangest thing ever if what he had seen and discovered not been so dire or the scene so significant.

She started recording the call while the data he had sent finished downloading, she could see his mad run through the ship. Soon he was discovered and targeted, infected crew and bio-organical-weapons tried cutting off his way in a few occasion and he managed to trap them in rooms or killing them straight; but he was still away from the end of the ship.

When the screen became full with static she continued singing. Even after she passed the info to the appropriate people and hijacked a tv signal to transmit the recording she sang and continued doing so for a long while, old songs that she haven´t sing in many years.

.

Gray felt himself slipping out of that sensation and coming back to his own body. Yet, he still managed to see glimpses of what happened to her in the following months. She took the most dangerous, brutal and (well paid) insane missions. Mercs weren´t exactly known for being scrupulous but she got herself a reputation for being inhumanly brutal. A long-enduring, tough, and insensitive sicko for hire that found it easy to withstand the hardships of campaigning. It had been more extreme than his own past as an assassin. More brutal than Wonderland was, and it was obvious that things weren't alright.

"_Aria…_"- As he regained control of his body he finally remembered her name, or at least the code name she had adopted in Wonderland. He opened his eyes to find himself in a white space. A sort of blanc white place like room, and in the middle of the room he saw a man that he knew… or not. The man was just in his early twenties, his short hair was brown, a deep scar ran along one of his cheeks and his eyes were icy blue the "dodo" Jericho Bermuda, albeit he seemed younger.

That was not the Jericho he knew. It was the mercenary man from her past or so it seemed.

.

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* * *

.

.

**That was far longer than I expected. And now Gray knows her past. How do you think he will react once he gets a chance to think about it? **

**I'm sure some of you already figured it out or at least have a hunch of who was really the one that Gray was looking through… yes, it is that weird. But next chap will be revealed as soon as there are 5 revs.**

**Oh!There's also a mature one-shot I made for Gray, but beware because it's M rated.**


	4. Sentient being?

**CHAP 3 was updated to include all the juice reactions from Gray. And yeah, he still hasn't got the time to properly think about what he saw in those memories. Especially THAT memory XD**

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* * *

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CHAPTER 4: **A SENTIENT BEING?**

**.**

Gray clenched his firsts and struck them against the floor with rage. There was a pit in his stomach and a bitter sourness in his throat that reached and engulfed his clock. All had finally come back to his mind. EVERYTHING. From when he first saw her in the Clover tower to when the finally defeated carcass of the Jabberwocky hit her and threw her into a portal to Spades after a brutal and epic battle. This felt void to him, everything did; and this place felt numb. Yet, he felt that this was not the end.

He was on his knees in the floor and still completely confused at what had happened and at what he'd seen.

"_I suspect that the proper connection to your memory data-bancs regarding your knowledge of my user whom you know as 'Aria Hadron Scherzi' has been re-stablished_" – The younger Jericho said.

Although the voice was the same as in the memories, it didn't have the thick accent or the jovial tone that the man had in those flashbacks. This person sounded calm, mechanical and analytic. Gray immediately related it to Aria's way of speaking.

Gray was gritting his teeth but he looked up at the man in front of him. This had to be some Jericho from Wonderland. The man from her memories was undoubly dead, so it wasn't possible for him to be here. He still had trouble with what he'd seen. Not only what he saw about her, but what he remembered had happened.- _"Bermuda? What the hell's going on?"- _Gray stood up. He felt shaky and was not sure what to feel regarding this person. Ghost or not he was the man that had won her game before it even started.

"_I am neither the man from her memories or the copy in appearance that this world made for her. I'm a virtual projection of the artificial intelligence incorporated into the Aegis system of the connective suit prototype. I'm merely taking this 3D model as a base because it's easier to present due to his scans and recordings in my data banks."_ – The man said with an impassive expression and a calm tone.

"_What? You aren't her old... lover?"_ – Gray felt bitter about using the "L" word but that was the best way to describe apparently what that man had been for her.

The memories came back to his mind. She had denied everyone in this world but went with that man from hers. They passed through a lot together; training, missions, adventures and misadventures... they saved each other's lives so many times... How did Wonderland wanted anyone to compete with all that in her game !? Another blow hit Gray. Unlike Alice, Aria was never betrayed by her former lover. But they all had betrayed her little trust.

"_Let me try to use a more natural human language approach..."-_ The man said, and Gray knew that this was indeed not Jericho Bermuda, but he indeed wasn't the man from those memories either- "_I am a program. An artificial intelligence that exists in the Aegis suit and devices that my user, Aria Hadron Scherzi as she has decided to be referred as, uses. My objective is to assist and protect my assigned user in the fulfillment of her objectives"_

Gray raised an eyebrow while totally weirded out about the mention of her suit. It was so strange that he needed to say it aloud -"_You mean to tell that you are her armor!"- _That was just stupid.

The man rolled his eyes and sighedwith a bit of exasperation_ -"No. I'm the artificial intelligence stored into the memory chips whose software and actuators can spread to all her devises to aid her in secondary operations, processing and calculations... Although I am indeed mainly stored in the connective Aegis suit"_

That had been completely impossible to understand for Gray and would probably be so equally unintelligible to most people.

"_Then who or what are you?"- _Gray was starting to get exasperated himself.

The man pinched the brick of his nose and sighed again-_"If that is how you can understand it, then yes. I am her suit, or a sort of thinking machine inside it. For as long as I've been active I've been with her. I have been on recursive learning mode from her speech patterns and all the information inputs and outputs. When she mapped the brain pattern of Andrick Jeloudov, the man from the memories you saw, she stored them into my data banks and that allowed me to interpret human mental patterns and to recreate human interaction patterns."- _The man put his hand in the back of his head_.-"Am I sounding... understandable?_ "-

"_Not much. Simplify it."- _Gray more or less understood it, but it was still very hard to digest.

"_Very well. I'll try."- _The man took a deep breath and started_ -"I am her suit and devices with part of the mind of the man from her world that looked like the man you call Jericho, but I have been learning behavior from her and adapting to her needs. My objective is to ensure she fulfills her objectives."- _It was clear that the man couldn't speak any simpler than that despite trying to do so.

Gray skeptically blinked _-"I don't believe it."-._ A ghost would have been more believable –" _Where are we_?"

"_You don't need to believe anything when the evidence is in front of you. What you must know is that we are in a place or state close to the one you call the dream realm and that she is unconscious and in need of aid."-_ He pointed all around –"_And this place is a trick I learned from her. It's a mental projection during the liminality state, the last phase of consciousness before a being falls asleep"_

Gray groaned at being reminded of her. At least she was alive and that gave him a bit of relief that was overrated by the mention of her needing aid. But how could he trust what this man said?- "_How do you even ... function? "- _Knowing that was somehow pointless_. _It really didn't matter that much who or what this ghost in front of him was. She needed help and that was what mattered.- "_Let's suppose I believe you... Where are we now and.."- _He gulped. He didn't want to ask but he needed to know_- "... And what was all I saw. All those memories of that man."_

Jericho's copy smiled with some relief.-"_It's hard to explain how I and my user operate. But you aren't the first one to ask her_"- He looked aside and snapped his fingers. An image of her appeared as if she was talking to someone.

.

_"__...It means that I expand my being and my will on nearby devices. It doesn´t matter much in this world, so it does not matter if I tell you, I can extend my consciousness to digital devices and whatever analog gadgets they control, they become part of me or rather I become all of it. Of course it also means that my own body is no more than just another device and I have to concentrate on keep it functioning. On the main synch I can control big networks and in secondary mode, like you saw just now, gets limited to just whatever´s in an arm's length. You more than anyone should know what is to have your mind in more than one body, however my mind is a combination of binary impulses. You already saw a bit of it actually, remember the lights system at "the wolves den"?_

_._

_The illusion faded without a trace._

_Gray did remember that incident. She somehow owned Joker (the jester) a drink, and of course the warden had included himself. Then the knight had invited himself and Gray had done so too because it was a bad idea to let anyone them and to prevent any mayhem they could cause. After that, somehow the cat had joined and they had entered a karaoke bar called "the wolves den" because the knight had won a bet. _

"_I can't simplify that. But I can show you another recording of her explaining how this... Space is generated and what is what you saw._"- The AI snapped his fingers again and she materialized out of nothing once more. This time she was on top of Joker, holding him against the floor with her weight and with her hands holding his wrists above Joker's head.

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"_Did you have fun with the show?"_

"_The fuck you bitch!?"_

"_Remember that a door can be crossed both ways. But I´m not upset and I don´t understand why you are. You couldn´t avoid your curiosity at looking into my past data and I couldn´t stop my curiosity to see if I could mimic the brain process you were making. We are least I have the courtesy of not following the R.A.B.I.T."_

_._

The AI took the moment to comment towards Gray- "She was in a space like this and controlling everything. Like when the incubus controls dreams."

_._

_"__What the heck are you!? What damn rabbit!? "_

_"__R.A.B.I.T. = Random Access Brain Impulse Triggers... memories...I am just myself, but I suspect that myself is a condition rather than a state. I AM a person if that´s what you ask. My genetic base is human, but in a human perspective I am an inhuman monster. Too close to being a beast by nature and too close to be like a machine by mind. I´m too rational and will do what I deem without regards of anything and given the case I may act based on the impulse of instinct."_

Her form flickered and then, rather than her, an oversized leopard was on top of Joker (a jaguar), she flickered again and it was her once more. This was her mind scape, and she had very good control of it.

"_A biological psycho may sound harsh but it means the inability of the brain produce and absorb certain substances that allow the existence of feelings, attachments, regrets, remorse, empathy… I never developed those, I am biological incapable of such, at least in the average human sense and way. I, However developed certain equivalents…. As for the apparent lack of memories, given the way I process information rather than "think it" I don´t require to create images or "memories" of it, I merely keep the data about them. It's like knowing you already read a book and knowing what the book is about but not having a mental image of yourself reading it or a memory of the book per se, although in some cases I can store "memories" , I don´t know how or if they differ from normal ones, that also implies that I don´t require dreams to defrag the information of the day."_

_Joker kicked her off him._

_"__My brain is wired differently than a common one. Why? I don´t know, I am a natural expected anomaly, that random exponential in the equation of evolution. Don´t think about it too much, I´m here and I´m real, and that´s what matters_ _."_

_She then turned into a skeleton that disintegrated into dust._

_"__But what is a person really? ..."_

_._

The image disappeared into fragments of dust and Gray was left trying to reach for her.- "What was that!?"- Gray was shocked that she would have told anyone, much less Joker, something so personal and important. She had told Joker what made her different, what she was and what she feared was only left of her.

"_That is a projection of one conversation she and "Joker" had at some point. She learned to create this space I recorded how to do so, and right now I'm prompting it. "-_ The dodo lookalike said_.-" __All the memories you saw through that man's eyes are the __remains of those __R.A.B.I.T's. and the result of when she recorded Andrick Jeloudov's brain and stored them into me."_ – The AI was having trouble to explain it to Gray _-" When you entered the dream realm to get close to her, a disturbance was caused and I used the chance to link you to some of her memories and force them over the nightmares. But you are the one who created some emotional connection to those memories."_

"_What are you trying to say?" - _ Gray could hardly understand it. But it seemed that his own emotions towards her had been

"_That what you felt is real_"- The AI was clear for the first time but it didn't last long –" _I am sending electric impulses on her body to stimulate her reactions while I network with her impulses so that this place is generated. Where this not the dream realm it would be impossible to get so close to her consciousness"_

Gray now though of something suspicious. –" _If you are indeed as conscious as you seem_ w_hy did you never acted or spoke when she was awake?" _

The man's icy blue eyes blinked and he tilted his head as if the answer was obvious .-_"My user prefers silent commands through mental impulses. Speaking aloud would have attacked unwanted attention during missions."- _He then looked up and put his hands on the back of his waist to made a crack motion of his muscles- "_It aint as I came with a manual for her either. She has been discovering all my functions by trial and error and I can't communicate without being prompted to. Right now I'm twisting into my protocols because my user is incapable of ordering and there is no pre-programmed response for a situation like this." _

"_Which means that if she doesn't ask, you can't answer. And if she doesn't order, you can't act.- _For a moment Gray go the amusing mental image of her throwing a fit because she simply didn't ask - " Y_ou are acting on your own right now because she can't act in any way, right? Where is she now?"_

The man remained still but it seemed as if he (or it) doubted in answering right away. He then sighed and looked at Gray straight in the yes.

"_Her mind has gotten more unstable in its processes since she arrived to this location. After she was taken from the land called Spades she's been held into the "nightmares" of the dream realm. She's been revising recurrently the same pieces of data that cause her discomfort_."- The AI didn't mention that such data or that discomfort came from her repetitively reviving her worst moments in her world. Especially her own demise at the end of her life.-"_I've been trying to block the inconvenience just like I did in Diamond."_

"_And that means that you have messed with her memories"- _It was so strange hearing something like that from someone that wasn't Nightmare...

"_Just her access to them. Like how something was blocking your own mind from remembering her"- _Gray blinked taken aback. Had someone besides Nightmare messed with everyone's minds to make them forget her!? –"_How did you do that?"_

"_Since... what happened in the country of Spades, a new source of..."-_ He was looking for a way to explain- _"Energy... mana... was imbued in her to grant a total access proxy in this world and to provide a secondary defensive protection. I've been integrating the second to myself using its power to continue my functions and maintain a constant connection with my user. I notice it does merge into my components as much as it increases my connecting to her and myself recognition capacities while it integrates me into the pattern of this world, providing me of more advanced processes. "- _The shadow bellow the man moved on its own and took on the shape of another form but Gray couldn't not identify what.

"_It's been a great experiment and I'm sure she will like to research this_"- The AI smiled with a pleasant smile. Happy to aid it's master.

Gray though that if things resembled their owners then this AI, her armored suit, certainly resembled her in some ways. But if this... being or whatever has been with her for so long, he was bound to know everything regarding her.- _"If you are indeed her suit, then you've been with her all the time. How do I call you? But more importantly. What happened to her?"_

The AI put a finger on his chin and looked up thinking.-_"I have no name, but you can refer to me by 'IA.' Acronym of 'Inteligencia Artificial' , or by the name of the prototype. 'Aegis' . It's the same until my user decides to give me another code_"- He then tilted his head again to Gray in confusion - "And_ you'd have to be more specific in your other question."- _

There were many things Gray wanted to know. But it was one that had priority.-"_In Spades. What happened to her after the fight with the Jabberwocky in Diamond and she ended in that lost country?"-_ Maybe there was a clue.

The IA put his hands up in front and shook his head no-"_I can't disclose that information. In my prerogatives the first clause is to aid in the fulfillment of her objectives. Without a bigger defined goal I consider her desires as her objectives. And her desires count as the wish she made when she signed a deal with this world. I take as a factor the secondary deal that was made with her and I will do everything needed to fulfill my prerogatives. That is as much as I will tell without direct orders from her."_

"_Then say it clearly"- _It was frustrating trying to translate all that technical jargon.

"_She made a deal with his world and a deal was made with her in Spades. After that, my user was dragged into the nightmare realm_."

"_Why aren't you telling me more? You said she is in danger but you aren't telling me more"- _Gray took notice that if this artificial being had indeed learned from her then it was holding and hiding far more.

"_Because it could be detrimental for her wish. What you need to know is that my user is in need of assistance. She is trapped into her worst memories. I suspect that due to the coincidence that your current mission resembles that from that man, you were able to get close to her. I can provide a heavy energy discharge that will disrupt this place enough for you to take her and get away and back to a location in Wonderland. Once there you can play the called game of hearts."_

"_Why didn't you contacted me first? Why let me see all those memories?"- _ Gray was getting impatient.

"_Her mind has been bombarded with some very nasty memories. I've been trying to force some nicer ones to stabilize the irradiation of mana she's producing. When you arrived, this realm got somehow confused by a second person in it and it looked for coincidences in memories. However your memories of her were blocked. I managed to form a bridge for networking due to the connection you have with her after accepting a deal by your role, and by showing you the memories of Andrick Jeloudov and my files regarding him she got on an 'emotional' note that clashed with that bombardment she is suffering. Right now that is at it's peak ."_

"_Which means that this place can shatter enough to get her free of the nightmares."- _Gray only needed to know that now was a good moment to get out of here.

"_I can help into creating a disturbance with a full discharge from my energy reserves. But that would leave me in passive stand-by mode for a while. You could take that moment to get her out and jump back to Wonderland. Although I don't know where you'd end._"

"_And why aren't you letting me do that yet?"- _Gray repeated with a warning growl-_ "Where is she now_?"

The gaze of the AI turned cold and calculating. Very reminiscent of hers -"_I must first ensure your cooperation. I want to make a deal with you. I will maintain it in the name of my user as a 'mercenary deal'. You have no choice. If you don't agree I will keep you here while your body rots"_

Gray was somehow surprised by this. Yet there was no doubt anymore that this being was her's and that everything takes after their owners. – _"Why are you doubting that I would help her?_

"_Must I remind you that all roleholders had no qualms about sending her to her death without any regards for her safety or status_?" – The form of Andrick or of a younger Jericho irradiated an aura of calculated treat and danger. Gray had to bit his lips at the fact that a machine was reminding him of that. – "_She will probably have even less sympathy towards that. Don't count on her forgetting or forgiving. You are a treat to her existence too._ "

Gray's own eyes narrowed with cold bitterness. -"_So what? If you want to hire me then speak. What is the deal?"_

The Artificial intelligence smirked - "_I think you know it_."

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**Bet no one even considered that the A.I. of her suit would have any importance despite mentioning it various times since the original story :D **

**I think Aria would have a real fit if she discovered that she could have just ask the AI of her suit to perform advanced tasks and even tell her everything regarding her own memories XD too bad she doesn't know and the AI of ehr suit can't respond unless directly ordered by the user. **

**I know it was a bit hard to endure the technical jargon, but don't worry. It won't come about in a while and enxt chap Gray can finally get her out of there. 5 reviews for next chap (same with any story). **


	5. A new deal

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CHAPTER 5: ** NEW DEAL**

**.**

"_Just say it already"-_ Gray was unamused. It had turn out to be true that all things resembled their owner and this machine was as mercenary as it's owner.

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The man raised his hands in a somewhat defensive gesture to calm down Gray- _"I want you to make a promise towards my owner that you will get her out of our current location and back to safety" - _ For a machine, he surely had gained a then developed a sort of friendly demeanor_ -"... And also that you will cooperate with her in the fulfillment of her deal's terms done with this world's while she was in the country of Spades." _

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"_That doesn't tell me much what you want me to do exactly. And don't tell her about me. She must discover me herself."-_ Gray could see all the intended vagueness of it. It could mean so many things whatever that deal was; and knowing her, it would be futile to even try and guess. – "_Why don't you want me to tell her about you?_"

"_Because it's in my protocols to aid her and finding out about me on her own would be more beneficial than you telling her_" – The man shrugged his shoulders and shook his head as if the answer was obvious.

"_For not being a real being you are devious_"- Gray could feel more frustration towards this creature... if it could even be called that.

"_I learned from my user and I am quite real_."- He pouted a bit- "_I will aid as I can to make a breach and take her out of here. But we are running out of time. Decide if you accept or die, please"_

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Gray couldn't deny that such seemed to be the case and he wouldn't even consider not helping her after all that she had passed. He now felt way closer to her. He now understood so much about her and related so much of that that he was more than ever interested in ending her game and giving her some peace, even if she didn't care for it.- _"I definitely ain't leaving without her_"

The A.I. tilted his head and remained silent. Gray face-palmed after considering that if this had learned things from Aria then it probably needed clear answers. He probably sucked at non direct speech just like his master.

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"_Yes, damn it. I agree"-_ He only wanted to be able to get out of here and do exactly what Nightmare had told him. To get the disturbance in the dream realm from out of there.

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The AI clapped his hands and smiled- "_Excellent! Please take good care of my user. You are her new partner"_

As soon as the AI finished those words, Gray felt a huge shock in all his body that zapped all his senses. The next second he blinked and he was floating in the dream real with Aria Hadron Scherzi unconscious besides him.

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"_Please take her away now_"- The AI's voice came from the speaker on the neck of her suit in a faint sound before the light son her devices shut down.

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Gray looked around. There were tendrils of darkness stunned and switching from a heavy shock that apparently had been holding her, and past them and between the darkness he saw a light that seemed to be a crack on the very fabric of the realm. He didn't doubt on his actions and grabbed the female's limp body over his shoulder before running towards the crack of light and jumped through it without hesitation while holding her tightly as they fell back into Wonderland.

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**I hope It was finally explained where the hell Gray was and how was he seeing all that. Also I think that the AI is somehow less mechanical than Aria XD **

**And yes 'big-ham'. You are basically right in the review. 'guest' might be right too ;)**

**Oh, and the M rating fics for Gray and Ace (more to come soon) are here. They are just rated M (for a good reason), however if you go past the smut you can see that they portray the guys reasons and motivations for winning Aria's game and what this foreigner represents to them.**

**And now they'll be back in wonderland. finally all the confusing stuff is over ^w^ Any guess at to where they'll land? **


	6. Rise and Shine

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CHAPTER 6: ** RISE AND SHINE**

**.**

Birds chirped outside and the light of midday hit Gray´s eyes. He groaned and buried his face against someone's hair while he continued hugging the hard whatever he was clutching.

("_**Wait, what..?**_")- He suddenly opened his eyes and saw that he was hugging a girl. She was around her mid-twenties. Her hair was somewhat spiky and had multiple shades of blonde with a long braid coming down from her nape. And the whatever hard that he was hugging was just her body.

He really wished that when going to sleep she would at least take off her utility belt and all it's amusing bags, her combat boots and her cargo pants and the bulletproof vest. She was not cautions, she was plain paranoid. All the extra gear was unnecessary. Not only was he there, she also wore that strange kind of black armor mixed with a diving suit and full of thin but unbelievable sturdy plaques and bursting with technology he had never seen in this world.

She had said: "_The outer armor layer has Boron carbide and tungsten nanodust arrayed in a crystal structure typical of icosahedron-based borides with incorporated carbon-heavy atoms at the end of it´s stoichiometric formula_." ... He could only wonder what the hell she had said or what the other layers of that armor were.

Gray's mind was foggy and fuzzy. In truth he couldn't remember much, but he knew a couple of things for sure. First, he knew the code name she had chosen while in this world was "Aria Hadron Scherzi", and second, she was a foreigner. About her, he knew she was a mercenary as much as he was an assassin. And the most important thing he knew was that they were partners. He dealt with combat and she dealt with intel. He smiled. It was a good deal.

His tongue felt dry and he licked his lips. He didn't stop hugging her while he whispered softly, not out of gentleness but of caution. -_ "Aria... wake up"_ – He knew that she could be very violent and deadly if woken up suddenly.

She didn't even move.

He sighed and pulled on her braid, first slowly and then a little harder. He knew that the wire that the braid hid was some sort of antenna that went directly into her nervous system and it was sensible, he just wasn't sure how or how much, but when she moaned in her sleep he raised an eyebrow at the sound and tucked the info of her sensible spot back in his mind before he stood up.

He walked to the window and threw the curtain open, letting the light invade the room they were in and that he recognized as his own room in Diamond.

Aria growled and rolled away from the light.

"_Rise and shine Aria_" – Gray said with an amused smirk.

She hissed and huffed at him- "_Go to hell Gray!"_

He chuckled and crossed his arms.- _"I tried waking you up nicely first"_

Aria groaned and stood up. Almost immediately she felt down from the dizziness but Gray was quick to catch her. She put her hand on his shoulder to steady herself. –"_Where are we? I can't remember what happened"_

Gray noticed that her muscles were clearly stiff_ - "We are in the country of Diamond. It seem that there was a move... my memory is foggy"-_ Not only was his memory foggy, it seemed as if some things didn't match_ - "What about yours?_

"_It's worrisome"- _She said without emotion, closed her eyes and concentrated – "_Can't remember much either. It may sound strange but I remember jumping down the rabbit hole when I was trying to take cover back in my world... then the next thing I know about is our deal."_

Gray noticed her lightly troubled look, which in her case was a clue as to how much she was freaking out really, well, as much as she could.

"_Don't worry about it too much_."-He patted her on the head-"_Everything is unstable before and after a move. Our memories will come back eventually even if slowly_"- he wasn't sure about it but it didn't matter much to him- "_What else do you remember_?"

_"How could I not worry about it?!"_- She huffed- "Well, lets figure that later... what else I remember?..."- She closed her eyes trying to make sense of the disarray in her mind. She would revise her files after she assessed their situation. -"_Our deal. Do you remember it? Until I go back to my world, I deal with intel you deal with main combat. We make lots of money_."- She huffed with a bit of annoyance, finding the messed up memories a cause for frustration.

"_Of course I do!_ _Such deal is probably the best I've done in my life"- _He smirked. It indeed had been a good deal. She was smart and capable and while she was here he could monopolize her game, which was more than any other holder would get from her, he was making sure of that. – "_What else?_"

"_mmhh... Not sure._"- After regaining her balance she cracked her neck and put her arms on her hips to loudly crack her back too.–"_This is quite the strange phenomena"_

"_Yeah, but I'll pass._"- Gray shrugged his shoulders. Yet he got the feeling that this was important. He might not remember much, but the haziest memories he could see didn't seem to match the ones he did remember – "_In any case we should go and take a walk around to check which territories moved here. Surely there is the castle of Diamond and the train station_"

"_Let's go see the train station... wait... where do the trains go? I've never seen train tracks in Clover or Hearts_"

Gray smirked and went to the door to start the tour. - "_Let's go and you'll find out_" - He was exited but at the same time he was anxious. For some reason, after thinking of the territories of Diamond, he found himself with a tingling gut sensation that made him want to keep her away from the cemetery or the art museum.

As he opened the door for her, he determined that he would need to recover his memories.

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**Yay! They're out for a stroll in Diamond. However their memories are a bit messed up.**

**What could have happened in Diamond after she went to Diamond and Gray back to Clover? Last time the place was basically dead. And what about those that were left in Diamond that do know her? **

**I guess this story is getting the pace, at least I hope so. Do tell me any expectations or ideas you have regarding the story, and please do tell me if something is not making sense or if I failed at explaining it so I can correct it **

**Oh yeah! People have asked about how often I update. Easy. Once I get at least 5 reviews on a story I update it. **


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